Tomorrow, President Thabo Mbeki will address Parliament in his state of the- nation address.

Sowetan went to the streets and asked South Africans what they would like Mbeki to outline in his speech.

l Jamaine Andrews of Roodekran on the West Rand said: "He should address the electricity issue. Another important thing is crime. Our society has grown accustomed to crime and that has to change."

l Riyaad Rahiman of Bosmont, Johannesburg, agreed: "Crime is a big problem in our society. The government needs to tell us what they are doing to stop it.

"The price of petrol keeps going up and the unemployed cannot afford it anymore. We have to find ways to stabilise it."

l Verushka Brief of Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, a Grade 12 pupil at RW Fick Secondary School, said: "More emphasis should be placed on education. The government needs to put more effort into education."

l Chadwin Billings of Westbury, Johannesburg, also believes education should be the highlight of the speech. "I have two children at school, and I would like to hear about what is being done to improve the state of education in the country."

l Thembi Nkuna of Zamimpilo said: "We need jobs so that we can live comfortably. Our parents are struggling to make ends meet."

l Honest Mavhura of Westbury said: "We need money. The government has to create jobs for us and then crime will be reduced."

l Michael Bukhosini of Johannesburg, said he would like Mbeki to touch more on development and job creation, especially for young people in rural areas. "There are no job opportunities in rural areas. Young people have no skills because most of the schools there have no teaching aids like computers. We need real development in water as well."

l This was echoed by Nokuzola Ndlovu of Nanda-Glebe of KwaZulu-Natal, said she would like to hear about more emphasis on development. "Crime, rape and child abuse are on the increase and I think the president should talk strongly on these issues. We need to create an environment where women and children could live freely without fear."

l Vuyokazi Nceke of Machobeni in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, said Mbeki should speak more openly about poverty alleviation programmes. "Poverty is so rife and President Mbeki should give us hope about eradicating it. He must also give us an indication on how he is planning to move street children off the streets. No one deserves to live like that."

l Dorothy Mhlongo said employment was the way to go. "Mbeki should direct us on how he plans to create more jobs - permanent jobs - not these tenders that pay us peanuts. Also, we are concerned about the high rates we are paying in townships; we better pay rent than rates. If he could address that, he would have made my life better."

l Buas Rammollo of Lefiso village in Mpumalanga said: "Now that Mbeki's term is about to end, it would be advisable for him to intensify unity in the divided African National Congress."